Through the 1940s and 1950s, PAGON (Progressive Architects Group Oslo
Norway) was an alliance of young CIAM-affiliated Norwegian architects
known for their innovative joint projects. As a group, PAGON went on to
become largely overlooked in the history of modern architecture, even
though its individual members - which included Sverre Fehn, Jørn Utzon,
Arne Korsmo, and Christian Norberg-Schulz - became defining figures in
Scandinavian and international modernism.
This book tells the story of PAGON for the first time, offering a
definitive account of the group's projects, buildings, and approach, and
demonstrating why PAGON's projects are ripe for reappraisal in the
international history of modern architecture. It shows how PAGON's
architecture constitutes a unique continuity between the Scandinavian
functionalism of the late 1930s and the modern movement in the US, and
an important transitional stage before the emergence of the better-known
neo-avant-garde groups within CIAM and Team 10.
Published as part of the Bloomsbury Studies in Modern Architecture
series, which brings to light the work of significant yet overlooked
modernist architects, this bookfills a gap in our understanding of
mid-century modern architecture and highlights the internationally
diverse nature of the modern movement.